Wooden Geodes

by audreyobscura

11K15710

Intro: Wooden Geodes

These small decorative wooden geodes are a super cute way to brighten up small spaces in your home. I made these guys a while back to fit in the spaces between my books and plants in the shelves around our living room.

I made these with paints and scrap wood that were just lying around the shop. In this instructable, I will show you how I made these in less than an hour! Woo-hoo for colorful quick projects!

Tools and Materials used in this build:

  • Scrap 2x4
  • Pencil
  • Band Saw
  • Belt Sander
  • Paint Brush
  • Paint

STEP 1: Harvesting Scrap

The scrap bin around Pier 9 can occasionally house treats and treasures. On this particular day, I found mostly rubbish, but one small promising left over 2x4 - I marked it up with a pencil, and prepared to cut it on the bandsaw.

STEP 2: Cutting Down the Chunks

I used a vertical bandsaw, and the proper PPE, to cut down all the shapes.

STEP 3: Shaping With a Belt Sander

The chunks were super fun to shape with belt sander. I made sure the resting-place of the belt sander was well waxed so I could quickly move the wooden chunks around to give them more geometry. I tried to put at least ten facets on each wooden block.

STEP 4: Paint!

We had all kinds of paint in a drawer labeled 'paint and stuff' - it was fun to brush on all different kinds of colors and enamels to see how it looked. The thinner enamels left a glossy stain, while the acrylics dried with a more opaque luster finish.

It was fun to play with palette too, I found myself drawn to bright neons with soft pastels.

STEP 5: Display!

The finished product looked super cute and are great pops of color all over the house!

I will award 3-month Pro memberships to the first 5 people that re-make this project, and use the 'I made it!' button.

9 Comments

chrisdennett 6 years ago

Love it, thank you. It was exactly the quick project I needed to save me from endless technical grief my computer is giving me. I shall paint it tonight!

audreyobscura 6 years ago

Yay! Glad you enjoyed the process! I just sent you 3 months of pro!

chrisdennett 6 years ago

Thank you very much, that's very nice of you. I've made a bunch more, painted a few, but sanded it off again. I like the woodgrain too much. I've left them on the dining room table and without fail someone always starts playing with them - normally trying to stack them in crazy balances. Love em.

inchman 8 years ago

This is a neat and creative idea. You can also try to 'replicate' actual jewelry cuts of stones to make huge diamond shaped blocks. (Princess cut, asscher, marquie, radiant, etc)

GreenClovers 8 years ago

So cute! Wish I had wooden blocks that are uniquely shaped

Porda 8 years ago

Great way to reuse scrap! I'm excited to try this out.

kylegilbert 8 years ago

Love the bright colors! Nice project!